The present invention relates to high maneuverability sweeping vehicles suitable for use for "sweeping" turf and similar surfaces including parking lots and pavements.
Sweeping machines of the type used to remove dust and debris from municipal streets, i.e., pavement sweepers, typically include a wheeled chassis having forward and rearwardly placed wheels with a vacuum intake hood suspended from the chassis between the wheels and aligned in a direction transverse to the direction of travel of the chassis. Additionally, rotatable circular brooms are often provided to engage the pavement at the intersection of the pavement and the curbstone, i.e., the gutter. Sweepers of this general type are well-suited for straight-line removal of dust and debris.
Where it is desired to remove debris from grassy areas having undulating surfaces and curvilinear boundaries, i.e., golf courses and other areas with highly maintained grass, sweepers of the general design discussed above are not sufficiently maneuverable to function well and are especially not well-suited for following curving boundaries and undulating edge areas.